Department of the Treasury

Department of the Treasury

FY2018 Freedom of Information Act Annual Report

FY2018 Freedom of Information Act Annual Report to the Attorney General of the United States

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Basic Information Regarding this Report..................................................................................................... 3 II. Making a FOIA Request ............................................................................................................................... 4

1. Contact Information ................................................................................................................................ 4 2. Brief description of why requests are not granted ................................................................................. 5 3. FOIA Regulations ..................................................................................................................................... 5 III. Acronyms, Definitions, and Exemptions.................................................................................................. 6 1. Agency?specific acronyms used in this Report: ...................................................................................... 6 2. Basic terms used in this Report ............................................................................................................... 6 3. Descriptions of the nine FOIA Exemptions:............................................................................................. 9 IV. Exemption 3 Statutes ................................................................................................................................... 10 V. FOIA Requests ............................................................................................................................................... 14 VI. Administrative Appeals ................................................................................................................................ 18 VII. Processed and Pending FOIA Requests ....................................................................................................... 26 VIII. Requests for Expedited Processing and Fee Wavier .................................................................................. 34 IX. FOIA Personnel and Costs............................................................................................................................. 36 X. Fees Collected for Processing Requests ........................................................................................................ 37 XI. Use of Subsection c. Exclusions and Proactive Disclosures.......................................................................... 38 XII. Backlogs, Consultations, and Comparisions ................................................................................................ 40

2

I. Basic Information Regarding this Report

1. Questions regarding this report may be directed to: Paul Levitan Director for FOIA and Transparency Privacy, Transparency, and Records Department of the Treasury (202) 622-0930 Phone (202) 622-3895 Fax FOIA@ Address: FOIA and Transparency Department of the Treasury Washington, DC 20220

2. This report is publicly available and can be downloaded from Treasury's Freedom of Information Act website.

3. Paper copies of this report may be obtained by contacting the Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records at the address above.

3

II. Making a FOIA Request

1. Contact Information

The current names, addresses, and contact information for Treasury's FOIA Officers can be found on Treasury's Freedom of Information Act website.

Departmental Offices (DO) Mr. Paul Levitan Director for FOIA and Transparency Privacy, Transparency, and Records Department of the Treasury (202) 622-0930 Phone (202) 622-3895 Fax

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) Mr. Quinton Mason 1310 G Street, N.W., Box 12 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 882-9904 Phone (202) 453-2331 Fax

Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Disclosure Officer Office of the Chief Counsel FOIA and Transparency 14th & C Streets, S.W., Room 419A Washington, DC 20228 (202) 874-2500 Phone (202) 874-2951 Fax

Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) Ms. Cynthia Sydnor/Ms. Denise Nelson Disclosure Office 401 14th Street, S.W., Room 508B Washington, DC 20227 (202) 874-5602 Phone (202) 874-5484 Fax

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Mr. Frank Vance Disclosure Services 400 7th Street, S.W. Suite 3E-218, Mail Stop 6W-11 Washington, DC 20219 (202) 649-6758 Phone

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) Ms. Rosemary Law ATTN: FOIA Request P.O. Box 39 Vienna, VA 22183 (703) 905-5034 Phone

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) HQ Stop 211 P.O. Box 621506 Atlanta, GA 30362-3006 (801) 620-7638 Phone

United States Mint (Mint) Ms. Lateau Jones ATTN: FOIA Request 801 9th Street, N.W., 8th Floor Washington, DC 20220 (202) 354-4600 Phone (202) 756-6153 Fax

4

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Ms. Amy Jones ATTN: FOIA Request TIGTA Chief Counsel 1401 H Street, N.W., Suite 469 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 622-4068 Phone (202) 622-3339 Fax

2. Brief description of why requests are not granted

The Treasury Department may not grant full access to records because of several reasons. Some records are classified. Others are specifically exempt from disclosure pursuant to statute, such as records that contain Bank Secrecy Act information or certain tax return information. This information falls within the scope of Exemption 3. Still other records and information that are obtained from private businesses and submitted in confidence or that contain proprietary information fall within the scope of Exemption 4. Internal agency communications representing the deliberative process, attorney work product, or attorney-client records fall within the scope of Exemption 5. Private information obtained from individuals may fall within the scope of Exemptions 6 and/or 7(C). Treasury also relies on Exemption 7(E) to protect information that would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could be expected to risk circumvention of the law. Finally, Treasury protects information and records contained in or related to the examination or the supervision of financial institutions under the authority of Exemption 8.

3. FOIA Regulations

Treasury's FOIA regulations are codified at 31 CFR Part 1, Subpart A.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) FOIA regulations are codified at 12 CFR Part 1301.

5

III. Acronyms, Definitions, and Exemptions

1. Agency?specific acronyms used in this Report:

Component Abbreviation BEP DO1

FinCEN Fiscal Service

IRS MINT OCC TIGTA TTB

Component Name Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Departmental Offices Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Bureau of the Fiscal Service Internal Revenue Service United States Mint

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

2. Basic terms used in this Report

a. Administrative Appeal ? a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.

b. Average Number ? the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

c. Backlog ? the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.

d. Component ? for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a "component" is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.

1 DO includes the Offices of Domestic Finance, Economic Policy, Financial Research, General Counsel, International Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Management, Public Affairs, Tax Policy, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and the Treasurer of the United States. DO statistics in this report also include requests made to the Financial Stability Oversight Council, an entity chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Treasury Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

6

e. Consultation ? the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that other agency has an interest in the document. Once the agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds back to the agency that forwarded it. That agency, in turn, will then respond to the FOIA requester.

f. Exemption 3 Statute ? a federal statute that exempts information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.

g. FOIA Request ? a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a "third-party" request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., "first-party" requests) when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens. Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its Privacy Act "systems of records" or where a Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible access. All requests which require the agency to utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report. Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester. It does not however, include records for which the agency has received a consultation from another agency (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of this Report).

h. Full Grant ? an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

i. Full Denial ? an agency decision not to release any records in response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.

j. Median Number ? the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

i. Multi-track processing ? a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis. ii. Expedited processing ? an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations. iii. Simple request ? a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

7

iv. Complex request ? a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.

k. Partial Grant/Partial Denial ? in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason.

l. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal ? a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.

m. Perfected Request ? a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.

n. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal ? a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.

o. Range in Number of Days ? the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.

p. Time Limits ? the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).

8

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download